News Overview 2025

Deepfakes can be impressive, entertaining and funny. On the other hand, the technology is also being misused. For example, AI can be used to generate media content that supposedly shows people naked or performing sexual acts. Deepfakes are also repeatedly used to spread targeted political disinformation. The recording of our web seminar, which is now available, provides teachers, parents and interested parties with basic factual information and raises awareness of the topic of "deepfakes".

The European strategy for a better internet for children (BIK+) has been protecting children and young people in the digital world for three years. A first comprehensive study of the strategy has now been published. It is intended to ensure that the strategy's measures are also effective. More than 750 children and young people and more than 360 adults from all over Europe were surveyed for the study. These included educational professionals, parents and representatives from civil society, academia, industry and politics. klicksafe also supported the study by surveying young people in Germany.

The Data Protection Media Award (DAME) 2024 was presented at the BvD Association Days 2025 in Berlin. This is the eighth time that journalistic and creative contributions that communicate data protection topics in an innovative, understandable and media-effective way have been honored. And which thus make a contribution to the secure handling of personal data. The DAME Award was initiated by the Professional Association of Data Protection Officers in Germany (BvD). We present the winning entries.

The KIM Study 2024 published today by the Media Education Research Association Southwest shows that more than half of six to 13-year-olds are online every day. This means that the intensive use of digital services is shifting into primary school age - often including the use of social media, although this is only permitted from the age of 13 according to the terms of use. Against this backdrop, questions of parental guidance and age-appropriate services are becoming increasingly important. The study will be published today to mark the 25th anniversary of the study series as part of the "Media Literacy Week" in Ludwigshafen. Further results and suitable materials on media education can be found in our news article.

Deepfake technologies can be used to create deceptively real media content - including AI-generated voice fakes. Criminals are increasingly using such tools for so-called shock calls: This involves faking an emergency situation involving a seemingly familiar person. The fake voice can make the call appear particularly credible. We provide information on how to deal competently with such deepfake scam calls.

In 2024, jugendschutz.net documented 17,630 violations of youth media protection. In over 9,700 cases, jugendschutz.net notified providers and self-regulatory bodies of violations and demanded that they be remedied quickly - with great success: In 99% of cases, the services responded by deleting or blocking the content. In particularly serious cases, such as sexualized violence, the organization called in law enforcement authorities. Supervisory cases were forwarded to the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM) and the Federal Agency for the Protection of Children and Young People in the Media (BzKJ).

Children and young people are at risk of experiencing sexualized violence online. A recent survey shows that a quarter of all children and young people in Germany are affected by cybergrooming - many of those affected are under the age of 14. In an online parents' evening, klicksafe was able to educate parents and guardians on the topic of cybergrooming. The recording is now available to anyone interested.

The AI functions in the Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp services have also been available in Europe for around a month. In order to further develop its artificial intelligence "Meta AI", the parent company Meta now wants to access its users' data. This includes, among other things, all publicly accessible content that users have ever posted on Facebook or Instagram, including images and videos. We explain how you can object to the use of your data until May 26.

News, politics, current world events - children and young people are increasingly searching for information and forming their opinions online. The FSM project "Media in Schools" is publishing new teaching material to strengthen the information and news literacy of vulnerable target groups. By using easy language and adapted tasks, the material is ideal for pupils with a wide range of learning requirements and special educational needs.

More and more children and young people are being confronted with sexual transgressions and sexualized violence online. Ulm University Hospital has now conducted a representative survey on this topic in Germany. The results of the survey show that Around a third of young adults (aged 18 to 29) were affected in their childhood - more than three times as many as the population average. At klicksafe, parents, teachers and young people can find lots of materials with tips and support on the topic of sexual violence against children online.

The flood of information is enormous, especially in the everyday digital lives of children and young people: between Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, the boundaries between opinions, advertising and facts are blurred. This makes it all the more important to promote media literacy at an early age. International Press Freedom Day takes place on May 3. It draws attention to the importance of free and independent media - an important cornerstone of democracy.

The German Children's Fund has relaunched the "Media Quiz" project on the children's website www.kindersache.de. The quiz in simple language is aimed in particular at children and young people aged eight to 16 who have particular challenges with reading and writing. The quiz teaches basic knowledge on topics such as online safety, data protection and communication in a fun way.

Influencers on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram are important role models for children and young people. With millions of followers and lucrative advertising contracts, the life of an influencer seems very tempting. Many children therefore dream of becoming the next big social media celebrity themselves from an early age. We provide information on the risks associated with so-called "kidfluencing" and the responsibility this entails for parents and guardians.

The Easter holidays are just around the corner. Many families use the free time for outings and media time together. Many young children also come into contact with screen media in the family circle. It is important to take a closer look at what content young children are consuming on tablets and the like. YouTube in particular is not suitable for children. What should parents look out for when young children or even babies are consuming video content? What alternatives are there to YouTube? We provide information about the risks and important tips.

This trend is currently hard to miss on TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn or X: images of people as action figures, comic figures or futuristic avatars, mostly generated by ChatGPT with image generators such as DALL-E-3 or GPT-4o, appear in the feeds. It's not just children and young people who are taking part, but also adults, influencers and companies who use the AI-generated action figures for marketing or self-promotion. The enthusiasm is great, but at the same time important questions arise: What data is disclosed and processed? And what happens to this information in the background?